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Thailand is Cambodia's neighbor to the West, and this forum is dedicated to Thai news, stories, reviews, blogs, videos, Thai people and anything else related to the country. A lot of expats have both lived and worked in Cambodia and Thailand, and this area is a place to discuss all aspects of life in Thailand and what's going on there. Most topics are about Bangkok and Pattaya because of their larger populations of expatriates and tourists in those cities, but this is for all things Thai.

living here for going on 30+ years i have seen governments come and go. Nothing changes. ( never knew anyone that left cause of the political instability ) BUT the current impasse is affecting business in BANGKOK, ( have a friend that has a jewelry shop in the gem trading center on Silom an the past few years have been shit)

This new move by the Army is to get their people in place. Its the reds and Thaksin and against some in the royal family ( everyone hates the prince) and upper military.

When he dies ( and we all know its not far far away) whomever is in power will have a better chance of getting thru thru chaos.

Down here in the south what happens in Bangkok is not relevant to our daily lives, tourist are here enjoying themselves and life goes on.

AS to travel thru Bangkok, just give yourself more time but usually these things do not affect the expressway and you will find you make better time as less people out on the road but you never know.

In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST

I've got a mate who recently moved down here after 8 years in Hat Yai. He's fairly savvy on the Thai political situation and is SPECULATING, that the reason for the timing of this is because either the King has just died and they haven't announced it yet, or he is on his death bed they expect him to die very soon. It sort of makes sense to me.

Quite a change from Britain, that when the Monarch gets close, they slip them a shot to speed up the succession.
Your friend may be right. And Richard's idea that the Army wants to occupy better positions.
I'll bet that a lot of horse trading is taking place.

this country can NOT keep a secret very well so the chance of him being dead or on his death bed are slim.,

Also when he does pass the government is in a shut down for 90 days and NOTHING can be done
Hence the reason they are jockeying for positions now

Interesting write up,

.......

The problem is that the monarch is 86 and ailing. He will die soon. But the royalty may not be discussed in Thailand under penalty of law. So no one talks about the pending death of the sovereign, and worse, no one permits themselves to even think about it. The coming succession is a national blind spot, a pathological omission, because without review, without sorting, dissection, debate, discussion, there is no emerging consensus, and there can be no popular opinion.

Meanwhile, Thaksin has a plan for the day the King dies, counting on the ascension of the Crown Prince to the throne. The Crown Prince is as reviled among the Thai people as the King, Rama IX, is beloved.

The Thai dread their next King. They call him â€œSia O,â€ a gangster name. Thaksin tried to suborn the Crown Prince by paying off his gambling debts, and by refurbishing his Nonthaburi Palace, but the gambit backfired. The Crown Prince moved to the Sukothai Palace, and he called Thaksin â€œan elected dictatorâ€ in a conversation with Ambassador Boyce that was immortalized in diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks.

Thaksin has his eye on the prize: He covets the $35 billion dollar holdings of the Crown Property Bureau, and he envisions himself a president of a Thai republic that would nationalize royal assets. This would imply the demise of the Thai monarchy, at least figuratively, and it would seal Thaksinâ€™s final triumph over the royalists and generals that usurped him during the coup of 2006.

The demise of the Chakri dynasty is unthinkable for most Thai, but they dread their Crown Prince. Failing an unimaginable miracle, even more turmoil looms ahead for Thailand. Long live the King.